Cape Ann Whale Watch

Laurie and I have had tickets for a whale watch out of Gloucester, MA for a month. We finally got to use them today. The company we used was Cape Ann Whale Watch Company. The truth is, all Massachusetts whale watches go to the same place Stellwagen Bank. Whether the whale watch is from Provincetown, Plymouth, Boston, or Gloucester, they go to Stellwagen. The one exception is the Newburyport whale watch, I think they head north to the Gulf of Maine. Full price ticket is $48. Although we did get discounted tickets which is why we went all the way to Gloucester in the first place.

My goal was really to see birds. I was hoping to see pelagic species. Since Stellwagen Bank is a feeding ground for multiple species such as whales, dolphins, and tuna, the birds should also be in the area. Examples of pelagic species I was hoping to see were Shearwaters, Jaegers, and Storm Petrels

It was not meant for me to see birds today. The only species we saw were Northern Gannet. We didn't see any birds on Stellwagen Bank because we never made it to Stellwagen Bank. There were whales feeding northwest of the Marine Sanctuary. So there was no reason to go any further. This would have been a bummer, except the whales put on a show for us. We didn't see any breaching, but multiple whales in multiple spots stayed on the surface right near the boat.

Many times we saw pairs of humpbacks. They were within feet of the boat. We could hear them breathing through their blowhole. We could see their fins underwater. When they would go down for a deep dive, they bring their huge fluke out of the water. It was not hard to get photos of that today. All in all, despite not seeing any pelagic birds, it was an awesome day. Some facts below and then a lot of pictures downloaded in the order they were taken.

Website- https://www.seethewhales.com/index.php

We took the 8:30 am whale watch and got back to the dock at 11:58. So we were only out there about 3.5 hours. There was another whale watch going out at 1 pm. So I knew they would need time to clean the boat.
Parking was free, they have their own lot.
The boat was completely full. This surprised me as I thought people would be done doing outdoor things. It was a beautiful Saturday and many patrons were on vacation.
The boat goes out until Oct 27.

None of the photos are cropped.

You're probably on the right boat when the Captain
has tats on his legs of a compass and a whale

Ten Pound Island Light on the way out

Hammond Castle which I toured last Saturday

Yeah, that's what I thought too!

Too close to fit the whole tail in the photo even
with my lens zoomed out

They told us the name of this tall ship.
It escapes me, but it is beautiful

Eastern Point Lighthouse
Much easier to see from the ocean than to get to
by land

A different angle

Ten Pound Island Lighthouse on the way back in

Gloucester, MA

Eastern Point Lighthouse
Considering the sun was right above the top of this photo,
I'm happy it came out as well as it did.

Laurie and I went to Gloucester, MA today. We were supposed to go one a whale watch that I bought tickets from Groupon. However, because of human error (mine) we couldn't go on the whale watch today. I didn't know I had to reserve a spot until last night and by then it was either too late or the boat was sold out. So we are going on the whale watch (weather permitting) next Saturday.

Laurie has wanted to go to Gloucester for a while. She wanted to go see the famous Fisherman's Statue and Hammond Castle. The whale watch was my idea. We went up to Gloucester anyway. It was far too nice out not to do something.

The first place we went was Eastern Point Lighthouse. Let me tell you, it is a pain in the ass to go to. The lighthouse is at the end of a road that goes out to a point. However, the residents of the road do not want you there. There is a sign that says "Private Road, Residents Only". This is not a private road and YOU ARE ALLOWED to go down it. Secondly, there is even a guy stationed at the entrance of the road whose job is actually to try to convince you it is a private road. I rolled down my window and I told him I was going to the lighthouse.

Oh look, a whale watch boat went by the breakwater. We could
have been on it, but I'm an idiot

Once halfway down the road, it bears left in a one way. But another road continues in front of you. This is the way to the lighthouse and there is a little sign for the lighthouse. This road also has a  sign telling you it is a private road. It is not! At the end of the road you come to the lighthouse. There is a parking attendant that charges you $10 to park. The money "goes to Mass Audubon" Although I think it was crazy  to spend ten dollars to look at a lighthouse, I paid it just because I had gone this far to see it. It is odd to me to pay to see a lighthouse when I fish under such legendary lighthouses of Beavertail and Point Judith.

You can't walk into the lighthouse because it is a private residence. You can walk on the very well made breakwater and look back at it. A tip for photographers- Picture taking is much better from the breakwater in the afternoon with the sun at your back. At 9 am the sun was directly behind the lighthouse.

Next we went to Hammond Castle. This was a legit castle structure built by one of America's top inventors John Hammond. Hammond is credited with over 400 patterns. He basically invented remote control, missile guided torpedoes, and many of the parts of televisions. He was a millionaire at the age of 19 by selling remote control info to the US Navy. Instead of building a normal mansion, he built himself a castle. For $14 you can tour it.

Besides being shaped like a castle with a drawbridge and a keep, he filled it with museum worthy artifacts. I found the most fascinating to be a skull from one of the members of Columbus's crew. There is a huge pipe organ, a treasure chest, and multiple paintings. There is an enclosed courtyard with a pool. He could control the "weather" in the glass roofed courtyard. He could make it rain, pour, and even make it foggy. He swam in the 8 foot deep pool.

 Hammond also had a statue made of himself. It was done in a Roman style. It was a nude only covering his man parts with a fig leaf. The fig leaf could come off and as a joke, he would move the nude statue of himself all around, including his front lawn for passer-buyers to see. His wife was not amused. All in all, it was an interesting tour. Multiple photos below, then more text of our next stop.

A skull from one of Columbus's crew

The stones that make up this arch are
lava rock from Mt. Vesuvius

An outside look at part of the castle.

The statue of Hammond (35 at the time)
wearing nothing but a fig leaf

Drawbridge

After a delicious lunch in downtown, we went to the Fishermen's Memorial. Laurie had wanted to see it. It is a famous Massachusetts landmark. It is dedicated to all of the Gloucester fishermen lost at see. The most famous of these were the men that died in 1991 in "The Perfect Storm". However, Gloucester was losing men to the ocean as far back as 1716.

While we were in the area the drawbridge down the street opened up. We watched boats both small and surprisingly big go through the canal. We stopped at the Fishermen's Wives Memorial and called it a day.

Another photographers note- The Fishermen's Memorial also photographs best with mid-day and afternoon sun at your back. Also of note, the street behind the memorial is so busy, you will almost definitely have moving cars in the background.

A typical boat going through the canal with the drawbridge up

Then this went through

Rhode Island Hat Trick

False Albacore

It is hard to believe that this is my first post in the month of September since it is my second favorite month. It is getting harder to go saltwater fishing after work. By the time I leave work, if I want to go, I have to fight rush hour traffic. It is getting dark too early to go after the evening rush.

Last week, my days off coincided with the outer bands of Hurricane Dorian. Even though New England was spared the brunt of the storm, the ten foot waves will put a damper on any fishing plans.

To that, today was my first real day off this month that didn't involve hurricane waves. So I did what I always do the second week of September. I went to the ocean and fished for albies. It didn't take me long to see them. Before I got to a flat rock to fish I saw some breaking far out. I casted and watched for 45 minutes until they came closer. All of the sudden a huge school of albies blew up right in front of me. I hooked up immediately. While I was fighting the fish I was watching albies swim by, bust bait, and jump out of the water. This went on for almost five minutes.

By the time I got the fish landed and unhooked the blitz was about over. I casted into the fish again but only got a hit. The fish teased me and stayed up for another hour but out of casting range. I ended up getting three bluefish and a striper while fishing. I got a Rhode Island Hat Trick before 9 am.

Later in the day I tried another spot with the wind more at my back. I caught two more albies.

 I caught all the albies and the striper on a float and fly (Pickering Albie Deciever). I caught one bluefish on a Kastmaster XL and two on the float and fly.

I got rained on most of the morning and the wind started blowing in the afternoon, but there is nothing like casting into a school of albies and having one almost rip the rod out of your arms.

Bluefish

Striper